Updated Rarely

My Left Hand is Numb

2008-07-04T18:57:00.001-07:00

So, it's no secret that I'm a huge Aerosmith fan, so of course I was going to go out and buy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Now, of course, my first complaint is that there's not enough Aerosmith in the game (each "level" has two songs by other bands before you get to unlock the three Aerosmith songs in that level). All told there's 24 Aerosmith songs (plus an additional three from Joe Perry's 2005 solo album). I will say that they have a pretty good collection of songs though. Most of the songs (thankfully) come from Toys in the Attic (1975), and Rocks (1976). There are four tracks from the first (self-titled) Aerosmith (1973) album, but they've all been re-recorded. I like the new versions, but having spent the last 18 years or so having listened to the original, it's a surprising (but not unpleasant) change.

A good number of the songs that come from other artists are songs that I know pretty well, or have at least heard more than a few times, including Lenny Kravitz's Always on the Run, and Cheap Trick's Dream Police.

What really makes the game fun to play (and most especially watch) is how accurately they've modeled the movements of each of the members of Aerosmith. I've seen them in concert a number of times, as well as seen numerous shows on TV, DVD or whatever, and I swear it's almost creepy how they've replicated the way the band moves and performs on stage. Great examples include watching Joe Perry with his Voice Box while playing Sweet Emotion, and the way Steve and Joe sing together during Toys in the Attic.

Alright, so I'm biased, but damn this is a fun game.

In DC

2008-04-21T07:57:00.001-07:00

I got into Reagan airport last night, at about 10:00, but we didn't get to the hotel until about 11:30. And somehow, we managed to get charged $50 for a cab ride that should have been about 8 miles.
Now trying to find a place to eat that late at night was no small feat, either. The hotel desk clerk told us about a 24-hour diner that was about 4 blocks away.
We ate there, and got back to the hotel at about 12:30. I didn't get to bed until after 1:00, and didn't actually fall asleep until almost 3:00. Needless to say, I was up at 6, and in the lobby before 7.
Man I'm tired.

To the skies

2008-04-09T13:40:00.001-07:00

I just got my marching orders for next week, and it looks like I'm headed to Southern California to sit in on a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Class that will be taught by Paul Turley. This is pretty exciting. I've already booked my flight, and I have a lot to do before I go, including buying some new clothes and shoes.

First Real Day of Unemployment

2008-04-07T13:18:00.001-07:00

So for those of you that don't know, I left my job at Sagem Morpho last week. I will be starting at Hitachi Consulting next week, effectively being unemployed for a week. Fortunately, I had more than a week of vacation time saved up, so I'm still getting paid for this week.

It's hardly a vacation, though. There's a lot going on this week, including getting new bedroom furniture and new mattresses. Bridget and I moved our bed into one of the guest bedrooms last night, and slept in there. I don't know how she handled it, but I was a little disoriented when I woke up.

I also had a weird dream about shaving my head, despite my hair continuing to grow in the process.

More as the mood strikes me.

Stupidity on teh intrawebs

2007-09-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

You know what really grinds my gears?

Lately, there's been a lot of fallout surrounding Apple and AT&T regarding some of the features (included and lacking) in the iPhone. That's fine, consumers have a right to complain about the mistakes they made due to lack of research, or whatever. But here's the thing people. Apple is the device maker. AT&T is the service provider. I don't know how many blog posts or comments I've read that is blaming Apple for outrageous roaming charges; or AT&T for a firmware update that bricks their phones.

What sparked this is a recent post on TUAW, where the poster wrote about her experience trying to have her phone legally unlocked by her service provider. Sure enough, someone in the comments section makes reference to "something that an Apple employee told him [sic]."

I don't know if it's because people don't know the difference between a hardware manufacturer and a service provider, or they don't bother to read before they react. 90% of the time, I would have to assume the latter.

My latest obsession

2006-08-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

I found www.otr.net through a link on digg. They host a whole bunch of classic radio shows made available through streaming real media. My new favorite is I Was A Communist for the FBI. It's a fictionalized re-telling of the true story of an FBI undercover agent by the name of Matt Cvetic. It's excellent radio.

Have I mentioned that I hate wikipedia? I decided to see if there was any information on Mr. Cvetic, or the various media produced about his adventures. The wikipedia entries on these topics, though, have apparently been hijacked by someone with an agenda, referring to Mr. Cvetic as a "fictional character."

There's also reference to McArthy-ism, the Red Scare, and all that jazz. The irony behind it, of course, is that 60 years after the events depicted in the radio show have occured, is that we've become a nation that's much more friendly to the ideas and beliefs of communism and socialism.

The beauty of the program is that it's horribly over-acted, and filled with the cheesiest dialogue ever. It's awesomely bad. Like Snakes on a Plane awesome. Even if you're not interested in I Was A Communist for the FBI, you're sure to find something else on the Old Time Radio library you might like.

Intellevolution (Repost)

2006-08-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'm reposting this from like, two years ago, because I got splogged. I've changed the comment system to a moderated one, so hopefully it won'y happen again. Here's the orginal post, with some minor clarifications

So there's this fanatical debate going on between the religious right and the lunatic left, which completely boggles my mind. It's over the theory of Intelligent Design. Now I don't know the specifics behind Intelligent Design, but I'm too lazy to even do a google search on the topic.

Here's what I understand the basic premise to be. Something, somewhere, somehow had a plan for life on earth, the universe, or a portion thereof. The theory of ID, as I understand it, does not attempt to explain who or what was responsible for the creation of, or at the very least the catalyst behind, life as we know it; but most people with religious leanings will assume that it's God.

ID, as I understand it, makes no such supposition, however. It is simply a theory that puts forth the idea that life was planned by an entity more intelligent than we know. This is a viable theory. As viable as evolution, anyway. And yet somehow, the two are perceived to be mutually exclusive.
But guess what? They're not!

Intelligent Design is a theory that attempts to uncover the origins of life, while Evolutionary Theory is based on the adaptations that a species may go through based on environmental changes and such. Intelligent Design is not a pseudo-scientific way of trying to sneak the book of Genesis in the public school arena; but since the dawn of civilization, mankind has always looked to the heavens, and tried to explain the unexplainable with the concept of all-powerful creator beings.

From where was this seed planted?

Some would argue that religion was a tool used by the upper class to control the lower classes. While there have been religious leaders who have abused their positions and title, religion is about faith. It's about belief. And why do some say that the beliefs about the creation of the known universe, and the adaptation of life are contradictory?

HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray - no end in sight

2006-01-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

I recently posted something similar to this in a 1up DVD club, but now I want to make my opinion known to the singles of people who read this.

In the battle of HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray, I don't believe a clear winner will be decided quite as completely as the VHS versus Beta format wars. First of all, it took years before the market declared a standard winner, and even well after the dust had settled, my dad still had his BetaMax VCR and tape collection still in active use. The odd thing was, if you compare Beta to VHS side-by-side, Beta was far superior in video quality. Now we have a new video format war brewing, and there are fanboys on both sides of the aisle.

Blu-Ray right now seems to be the leading contender, but lets look at a few facts.

Sony has rarely, if ever, won a format war.

The cost of hardware will be prohibitive for all but early adopters.

Consumers don't like making decisions. They want to be told what to buy.

There's nothing wrong with the current DVD format

Let's look at these arguments one by one.

Sony has rarely, if ever, won a format war
I'm not going to state an absolute when i could be wrong, but let's look at a few examples. BetaMax, MiniDisc, ATRAC.
Enough said.

The cost of hardware will be prohibitive for all but early adopters.
Recently, Toshiba announced a couple of HD-DVD players in the $800 to $1000 range. With limited launch titles available, and current DVD players available for less than $100, who's going to buy one at launch? Probably the same type of person who paid $1200 for an Xbox360 on eBay when it launched. I haven't seen price point announcements on blu-ray, but it will have to be more competitive to stay in the game.

Consumers don't like making decisions. They want to be told what to buy.
Don't get me wrong, they're not stupid. Well, a few of them aren't anyway, but the bottom line is most of them will wait out the wars until there is a clear winner. By then the media and the players will be standardized. How does that happen? Well, whichever format can deliver a player priced for the Wal-Mart crowd, and discs that are just as cheap as DVDs. I honestly believe that's what it will take. I have over 700 titles in my DVD collection, and I won't make a move until I know which player I'll have to buy.

There's nothing wrong with the current DVD format

That's right. I said it. There's nothing wrong with DVDs. Sure, they could have better visual and audio quality that would require more storage, but only select titles will be worth converting or remastering to a new high-definition format? For example, is it really worth buying White Palace in a high-def format?
I could see anime titles or high-budget action/adventure films benefitting, but what about old movies from the 40s or the 50s?

The fact of the matter is that this exact same battle is still being fought in the multichannel audio arena, with no clear winner, or no end in sight.
Remember how the DVD-Audio vs. SACD battle turned out? Of course not. Because there hasn't been a clear winner in that battle. And what makes matters worse, is other than audiophiles, no one cares. CDs haven't outlived their usefulness. Most people will go to their local superstore and buy a CD without knowing that they could be getting a multichannel or higher quality stereo mix. To confuse the issue even further, there's a third party, the DTS cd. I currently have 5 or 6 DVD-Audio discs, and 2 or three DTS cds. I don't have any SACDs yet, but I was thinking of picking up Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic.

But I digest.

So what's the solution?

First of all, don't believe the hype. Neither format is a must-have. Most consumers don't have high-definition TVs, and wouldn't benefit from the new formats. Secondly, while a new high-capacity storage format might mean improved video and audio quality, the company or companies responsible for the development of the winning format will be the big winner, as they will be able to profit from the licensing fees from 3rd party manufacturers. And most importantly, no one is really complaining about the current format. The new formats are going to have to offer a paradigm shift in how we watch movies, and there's nothing to indicate that they will do that. Many thought that 8-tracks and cassette tapes would kill the vinyl record, but it wasn't until the CD that the format took a significant hit. Also, vinyl isn't quite as dead as one might think, just take a look at a lot of the independent record labels and high-end audio shops.

But the PS3 will come with a blu-ray player, and Microsoft has announced that it will support an external HD-DVD input.
And that's probably where the formats will thrive. But the home video market? Not for a while.

So should you care about which format wins?

No.

Keeping up with the Joneses

2006-01-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

All right, so I don’t blog much.

I’m testing out the blogger for MS Word plug-in. If I like it, I might get into the habit of blogging more frequently. Quite honestly, though, it’s almost too much to try and keep up with. I think I now have four blogs that I never maintain. There’s this one, of course, which no one ever looks at. I have one on one MySpace, another one on MSN, then there’s always the gaming blog on 1up.com. And last, but not least, I’m a member of the Playstation G.A.P. (Gamer Advisory Panel), and I have a blog I should be maintaining on there as well.

I probably have other community sites I need to visit more often, but if this tool works, then my blogger-brand blog will see a lot more activity.

-C

I still have a blog?

2005-02-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know. Self-serving blah blah blah.

I haven't updated this thing in almost a year, and I'm not going to keep doing this regularly.
Some notes.

New Job:
I work for a company called Netdesk. I'm a technical trainer, teaching a lot of Windows Server classes. I teach a good mix of general administration, IIS, SQL, and ISA Server. The job is awesome. I've been here for over 7 months now, and I still love it. That's a good sign.

New Wife:
I didn't have an old wife, but I have a new wife. We've been married over three months already. No broken bones, or hearts. So far so good. Married life is cool. The tax credit helps (and yes, thanks to GWB, it's a credit, not a penalty!)

I've got some thoughts on the Washington State's governor's race. More on that later.

Jackass Nation

2004-05-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Warning. Political Rant.

OK, we've heard enough about Abu Ghraib prison. Literally. This is a topic that has been mired in circular logic. There's no doubt that what happened there was sick and depraved, but this is something that was discovered and responded to MONTHS ago. Heaven forbid the Pentagon try to investigate and take corrective action without getting an OK from the U.S. media.

There are really two aspects to this story. The one that is getting the most attention is the suggestion that these actions were not only known by people high up in the administration, but encouraged. That is the most asinine thing I've ever heard, and I'm not going to address that topic tonight. The other aspect is the fact that these actions were committed by relatively low-ranking personnel, who were young, inexperienced, and quite frankly, should have known better.

Is this the military's fault?
Probably not. I've never had military experience, so I can only speak from hypothesis; but these guys should know better. It doesn't take years of military training to know right from wrong. So if George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld aren't to blame (and they're not, get over it), who is?

Jackass.
I'm not insulting you, I'm talking about the TV show.
Jackass, and other shows like it, capitalize on public humiliation. In the defense of Johnny Knoxville and his cronies, most of their actions are set up to target themselves. However, the simple fact that shows like this get aired at all speaks volumes.

The concepts of dignity, respect, and personal responsibilty take a back seat to the depravity of humiliating those under our control. We live in a society that has become so permissive in allowing anything to air under the guide of free speech, that we lose a sense of what is appropriate. The fact of the matter is, we're raising our kids today exposing them to some of the most vile stuff that has ever been televised. We're desensitizing them to sex, violence, and indecency.

Alight. I'm bored with this post already.
I'll just publish it and move on.

I'm gonna regret this.

2004-05-17T02:45:00.000-07:00

Everyone else has a blog. I don't need a blog. I'm pretty sure I don't even want a blog. I even hate the word blog. As far as I know, the only people interested in knowing what I think about various crap are the people I see on a daily basis; and even then, most of them wish I'd shut up once in a while.

I'm only here because of a slashdot link to a wired news article about how hybrid cars aren't performing up to the hype. Quite frankly, that's BS. I bought a 2003 Prius a year ago (1 year today, in fact), and I couldn't be happier with its performance. I knew when I bought it last year, that the estimated MPG were on the high side of things, but right now, my average mileage display says that I'm getting 48.5 MPG averaged over the last 900 miles or so (I reset it once in a while, just to screw with the numbers). I've never gotten below and average of 45 MPG. The thing is, you have to take into consideration the road conditions, the angle of incline/decline, whether or not you're running the A/C, etc... etc...

I don't go up and down a lot of hills in my current commute. I imagine if I were still living in Nebraska, my mileage would be awesome. I'm not in any rush to find out, though.

My wedding ring doesn't fit quite right. I'm losing weight, but not this much. I wonder if this really is a size 10 ring, or not. Either way, I've got time before the wedding to get it sized.

For the record, I don't think I'm gonna tell anyone about this. It'll be my dirty little secret. If someone finds it, great. If not, even better.

I'm in the middle of a graveyard shift right now. I'm about 6 hours away from finishing my shift, and man, I can't wait for this night to end. You don't know boring unless you've had some kind of network monitoring job.

So anyway, if you've found this, you probably want to know more about me.

29 years old.
Latino male.
I'll be married in less than 6 months.
I own two domain names I haven't used in a couple of years.
My eye itches.
I think celebrities should stay out of politics.
I think politicians should stay out of the entertainment industry. Except Fred Thompson.
I think people who don't watch TV only say that to act superior.
I don't watch reality TV. I'm better than that.

Blah blah blah.
I'm tired.
Maybe I'll post more tomorrow. But there's a network outtage planned. It might be busier than this.